Ministry of Justice

Coroners

lord popat: To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they will take to ensure that requests to expedite decision-making by coroners on religious grounds are implemented, following the judgment of the Administrative Court in R (Adath Yisroel Burial Society) v Senior Coroner for Inner North London (2018 EWHC 969 (Admin).

lord keen of elie: Coroners are independent judicial office holders and, as such, it would not be appropriate for Ministers to interfere in their decisions. Following the judgment of the Administrative Court in R (Adath Yisroel Burial Society) v Senior Coroner for Inner North London (2018) EWHC 969 (Admin), the Chief Coroner issued guidance to coroners on handling urgent decisions, including those concerning faith issues. The Guidance is a practical guide to assist coroners in situations where:a bereaved family has made a request to the coroner for urgent consideration of the death of a loved one and/or early release of the body; orthe coroner or coroner’s officers otherwise become aware of features of a particular death which may justify treating it as especially urgent. The Guidance provides a summary of the guiding principles and is available at: https://www.judiciary.uk/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/guidance-no-28-report-of-death-to-the-coroner-2010517.pdf

Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

Climate Change

lord mendelsohn: To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made, if any, of the risks and benefits of solar radiation management technology; and what plans they have, if any, to increase funding of research intothat technology.

lord henley: The Government is continually monitoring the evidence base relating to Solar Radiation Management technologies (SRM). As set out in our public position statement on geo-engineering, our view is that SRM would produce changes in rainfall patterns and amounts. This would be likely to lead to winners and losers, with some regions suffering detrimental impacts.The Government is not commissioning further research into SRM, but the World Climate Research Programme’s (WCRP’s) Geoengineering Model Intercomparison Project (GeoMIP), is investigating the effects which SRM would have on the climate.

Climate Change

lord mendelsohn: To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have, if any, to promote improved global cooperation and governance of research and use of greenhouse gas removal and solar radiation management technologies.

lord henley: The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change provides a mechanism for global cooperation to assess research into Greenhouse Gas Removal technologies (GGRs) and Solar Radiation Management (SRM). These technologies are included in the scope of the upcoming 6th Assessment Report, due for publication in 2021.The UK is a leading member of a number of multi-lateral initiatives focused on accelerating progress, and improving global cooperation, of Carbon Capture, Use and Storage (CCUS) which is an important enabler of some GGRs. This includes the UK co-leading the Carbon Capture Challenge under Mission Innovation and the CCUS Initiative under the Clean Energy Ministerial. The UK also co-hosted, with the International Energy Agency, a Global CCUS Summit in Edinburgh last November bringing together senior energy leaders from governments and industry on how to accelerate global progress on CCUS.As a leading provider of International Climate Finance, the UK supports developing countries to restore degraded forest landscapes to support local livelihoods and restore carbon stocks as part of their contributions under the Paris Agreement.We have no plans to increase global cooperation and governance of research on and use of SRM technologies. A resolution on SRM governance was recently put before the UN Environment Assembly by Switzerland, but did not gather enough support from other countries, and the resolution was withdrawn.

Greenhouse Gas Emissions

lord mendelsohn: To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made, if any, of the recommendation in the report by the Royal Society and Royal Academy of Engineering Greenhouse gas removal, published in September 2018, to incentivise demonstrators and early stage deployment to enable development ofgreenhouse gas removal methods.

lord henley: We agree with the need for further research, development and demonstration of early-stage greenhouse gas removal methods, as well as the need to look how best to incentivise responsible deployment. The Department is addressing these recommendations by conducting a more detailed study of different policy options for incentivising removals, and through constructive discussions with the UK Research & Innovation (UKRI) about the possibility of new research funding for demonstrators in the near future.BEIS is co-funding an £8.6 million GGR research programme with UK Research & Innovation (UKRI) which will continue until 2021. In addition, projects for some GGR approaches are in scope for both our £20 million Carbon Capture and Utilisation Demonstration (CCUD) Programme and £24 million Call for Carbon Capture, Usage and Storage (CCUS) Innovation. The details of these successful CCUS and CCUD projects will be announced in due course.

Cabinet Office

Ministers: Resignations

lord tebbit: To ask Her Majesty's Government how many ministers, including Government Whips, have resigned since the 2017 General Election.

lord young of cookham: I refer my noble friend to my answer of 4 December 2018 [HL 11735], since when nine ministers have resigned from the Government. The number of ministers appointed to Her Majesty's Government, and the roles to which they are appointed, will vary from time to time. Since 4 December, nine ministers have joined the Government.

Department for International Trade

Trade

lord taylor of warwick: To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the analysis by the World Trade Organisation that global trade growth may decline in the event of a no-deal Brexit.

baroness fairhead: The latest WTO forecasts revised 2019 global trade growth from 3.7% to 2.6%, rising to 3.0% in 2020. Forecasts assume a smooth Brexit with a transition period until 2020. Weak air freight shipment figures, declining global export orders, increased economic policy uncertainty and a fall in the global GDP outlook are cited as reasons for downward revisions to forecasts. The WTO notes the uncertainty surrounding recent estimates and that ‘the effects of Brexit will depend on the nature of any agreement that might be reached between the UK and the EU, with impacts mostly confined to these economies. HMG published analysis of UK impacts of various EU exit scenarios, including no-deal, in November 2018. The Government's priority is to continue to press the case for the orderly Brexit that delivers on the result of the referendum. The Government will continue to prepare for all eventualities with partner countries, including a ‘no deal’ scenario. The UK will have an independent trade policy once we exit from the EU and is preparing for an ambitious programme of trade negotiations and enhanced market access.

Arms Trade: Yemen

viscount waverley: To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of reports in the Channel 4 Dispatches programmeYemen—Britain's Hidden War that UK contractors have supplied arms that were used in the war in Yemen; what reasons were stated in exportlicence applications submitted by Saudi Arabia, BAE Systems plc, or any intermediary, for the supply and use of weaponry; and what criteria they use to assess and approve each application.

baroness fairhead: All arms supplied by UK companies to Saudi Arabia require an export licence. We assess each export licence application very carefully against the Consolidated EU and National Arms Export Licensing Criteria (the Consolidated Criteria).The Consolidated Criteria provide a thorough risk assessment framework and require us to think hard about the impact of providing equipment and its capabilities. These are not decisions we take lightly, and we will not license the export of items where to do so would be inconsistent with the Consolidated Criteria.The key test for assessing military exports to Saudi Arabia is Criterion 2(c) of the Consolidated Criteria – whether there is a clear risk that the exports might be used in the commission of a serious violation of International Humanitarian Law (IHL).When considering export licence applications, we take into account a wide range of sources and analyses, including reports from non-governmental organisations and the United Nations, as well as those of a sensitive nature to which these parties do not have access. This provides a comprehensive basis on which Government can take informed decisions about export licence applications.